[High-level dialogue suggests policies on women’s empowerment]
Echoing the view, Australian Ambassador for Women and Girls Sharman
Stone said if women do not participate shoulder to shoulder with men as equal
as in leadership and economic empowerment, countries will not grow economically
because “we are missing on half of the population, innovation, energy and work
capacity.”
According to the ambassador, it is ideal to have at least 50
percent of representatives in parliaments being women. It’s a goal, a strategy
that hasn’t been achieved yet. No country in the Pacific region has achieved
that yet.
“But I think it would be the outcome for the 21st century, later in our century,” she noted.
“Women are not super human. We cannot have women doing
everything. So men will need to convince that they should also share in
parenting. Men are brilliant fathers, just like women are brilliant mothers.”
The ambassador said if women go into business, men should
support them in their families. Women should be in the army, the air force and
the police. They should also be captains of industry, running micro and big
businesses.
“There’s nothing that women can’t do, there is nothing men
can’t do,” she said, adding that the APEC region should strive to have women to
have equal opportunity, both at home and at work.
Rhodora T.
Masilang-Bucoy, Chairperson of
the Philippine Commission on Women, said if women are still tied to the
home, to their care work and not productive work, this is a very significant
loss in terms of productive resources.
She said: “It is very important to give them voice, make
them participate in the decision making, then governments provide them enabling
mechanisms such as market, finance, logistics, and of course, access to
uncontrolled resources.”
“Women, because of our nurturing characteristic, because of
our patience, because of our hard work, because of our very important role in
the survival of the families, we have these characteristics and creativity that
we need to empower our society and help improve our economy.”
Bucoy also pointed
out that there are still a lot of culture, stereotype and biases among
men that makes them not see the important role of women. She noted: “We have to
change attitude of men so that they will look at women as a very important
partner in development.”
The 2017 APEC Women and the Economy Forum was held in Hue
city, Thua Thien-Hue province, from September 26 to 29 under the theme
“enhancing women’s inclusion and economic empowerment in a changing world”. It was
part of a series of events hosted by Vietnam during the APEC Year 2017.-VNA